Chris Morris expects AB de Villiers to be an aggressive leader in Test cricket, even if his first address to the South Africa squad since taking over from Hashim Amla was just “the usual captain’s talk”.
De Villiers will captain South Africa for the final two Tests against England after Amla stood down at the end of the draw in Cape Town. But despite four years in charge of the one-day setup, the 31-year-old’s approach represents something of an unknown quantity, having never captained in first-class cricket before.
Morris made his Test debut in Cape Town and could be part of a four-man pace attack as South Africa look to level the series in Thursday’s third Test at the Wanderers. The all-rounder expects the De Villiers method to be one of setting the standard for the players through his own performance on the field.
He said: “I like the way AB does things. He expects the best from everybody because he gives the best. You will never see AB not diving or not chasing down a ball. It rubs off on guys. It’s going to be a little bit of a change but then I’d only been with Hash for one Test.
“We had a nice team chat yesterday, but it wasn’t much different to what Hashim would have said; the usual captain’s talk. We all know what we have to do but it’s going to be a really tough task for us because this is a bloody good England side. We’re in a must-win situation if we want to win the series.”
Asked what the lessons he had taken from his first taste of Test cricket in the stalemate at Newlands, Morris joked: “Don’t bowl to Ben Stokes,” reflecting on the England all-rounder’s 258 from 198 balls, 81 of which came off Morris’s bowling.
“Sometimes you’ve got to take it on the chin and say the guy played an unbelievable knock. I’ve never come across that in my career before and I hope I never do again,” he said. “I told him that if he ever does that again he must hang up his boots and say he’s the best ever. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was a baptism of fire.”
The 28-year-old’s debut did feature two stunning one-handed catches in the slips, as well as 69 with the bat and a beauty to remove Joe Root during England’s wobble on the fifth day.
“We will take a bit of confidence from that last day, we bowled nicely to our field and plans,” he said. “Hopefully we can bring that into this game and see what happens in the next five days.”
Morris, who played seven years of cricket at the Wanderers for the Highveld Lions, expects the seamers to dominate in the third Test, with the uncapped fast bowler Hardus Viljoen, fresh from taking 20 wickets in two first-class matches on the ground this season, pushing hard for selection along with the fit-again Kyle Abbott.
De Villiers and coach Russell Domingo, in their first Test together, must decide whether the spinner Dane Piedt or a batsman should be sacrificed if they are to accommodate the extra quick.
